Zalman CNPS7000-Cu CPU Cooler Review
By: Damon E. Copeland

When my roommate handed me the package from the delivery man, by the weight, I thought I had received a monitor. Upon first opening the package I was extremely impressed by the aesthetic beauty of the Zalman CNPS7000-Cu heatsink - but shocked at the size of the cooler.

I scanned through the instructions to determine ease of installation and immediately popped open my case and went to work.

At first I didn't think the heatsink would fit onto my mainboard. I have a lot of cards and drives and even though I have a large Ahanix Noblesse server case I was sceptical as to the room. I removed the stock P4 heatsink and fitted the Zalman in its place with still about half inch of space on all sides. Installation took up all of about five minutes and it was time to test the beast.

My stock CPU cooler fan creates an incredible amount of noise, but with four quiet case fans my entire system runs at about 31 degrees Fahrenheit. I am extremely satisfied by those temperatures, but the noise is extremely irritating. Installation complete, and the knob of the fanmate 1 set on quiet mode, I fired up my 'puter.

I was immediately happy with the barely-audible fan buzz coming from my case. I can no longer hear that annoying whine the entire time I am sitting in front on my computer (which is a very long time seeing as how it is my job). When you spend as much time in your home office making sales calls and sitting in on conferences as I do, you are extremely appreciative of anything that removes some background noise.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the fact that my CPU temperature dropped by anywhere from 3-5 degrees depending on the fan RPM. I do not overclock, but every little bit helps.

I wish that my digital camera was in working condition. My computer is slowly but surely becoming a work of art. An all black case with a blue mirror piece on the front panel covering up the drives. I had a hole cut in the side of the stock Noblesse case and a window inserted. That, coupled with the blue LED case fans, 2 Blue code cathodes, blue cables, and my meticulously tie-wrapping of the wires has created a mesmerizing look into the heart of a computer. This CPU cooler is going to be a welcome addition to the inner workings view and I appreciate the change.

The only problem I can immediately see associated with the cooler is the off-chance that someone might knock over my case or not knowing the dangers, just try to aggressively move it and the sheer weight of the Zalman CNPS7000-Cu heatsink could cause some stress damage or simply snap off the motherboard. This is the curse of having a bulky cooler attached vertically on your mainboard. But, then again, without great risk comes no great reward.